 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you some of the major news developments from across the world, our headlines. Japan extends state of emergency, fears of a second round of coronavirus spread. Venezuela repels attempted invasion by mercenaries, accuses US and Colombia. Sudanese peace negotiations see a major progress as rebel militia agrees to integrate with state forces. JL Egyptian music video director dies in prison and Bangladesh government workers stage sit in overpending wages as factories reopen. We begin with our daily COVID-19 update. The total number of cases worldwide is at 3.52 million. Close to 248,000 people have died, while over 1,132,000 people have recovered. The US has the highest number of cases at 1.15 million with over 68,000 deaths. In other COVID-19 news, Japan extends its state of emergency until the end of May over fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced early today that the government will be extending the state of emergency declaration up to May 31st. This emergency was announced for the first time in post-World War Japan last month on April 7th in the capital, Tokyo, which had reported most of the infections in the country then. The measure was later expanded to the rest of the country. Although the declaration of emergency does not empower the government to impose a generalized restriction on public movement, it allows for strong advisories to be sent to businesses. Japan has been widely criticized for its low testing rates, which stand at 1.4 per every 1,000 persons when compared to South Korea's 12.4 and Russia's 29.5. Independent studies from Japan's universities have pointed out that the rate of infection could be much higher than the official figures, with 6 percent of Tokyo's population alone expected to be infected. Regional governors and mayors have also criticized the government for not doing enough to provide PPEs or expand testing rates. We now go to Venezuela, where the National Bolivarian Armed Forces and the National Bolivarian Police repelled an attempted invasion by a group of mercenaries early on May 3rd Sunday. The group of mercenaries attempted to enter Venezuela on the coast of the Lugvaira state. They arrived in speedboats from Colombia according to the GPS system of the boats. In the confrontation, eight mercenaries were killed and two were detained, one of whom has confessed to being an agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States. Venezuelan security forces also seized large amounts of weaponry including assault rifles and ammunition, as well as satellite phones, uniforms and helmets with the US flag. Authorities in Venezuela strongly denounced the latest attempts to violate the country's sovereignty and peace. They also declared that the attack was clearly coordinated between the US and Colombian governments with the support and financing of drug traffickers. In our next story, the ongoing peace negotiations in Sudan saw major progress yesterday as the transitional government and the Malik Agar-led faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement North agreed to integrate their soldiers into the state's armed forces, police forces and intelligence agencies. The two parties also agreed in this video conference to restructure all of the institutions of the country's armed forces on the basis of merit. Last December, the transitional government and this rebel group, which controlled substantial parts of the states of South Cordova and Blue Nine, had agreed on a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors. One of the crucial demands tabled at that time by the rebel group was the integration of its armed forces with the country's security forces. The government finally considered to this demand yesterday and this agreement constitutes an important milestone. The transitional government was formed last August after a power sharing agreement between the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces or the DFCF and a military junta. The DFCF is a coalition of left and centrist political parties, which came together to represent the popular revolution, which overthrew the dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir. The DFCF also confronted the military junta, which subsequently assumed power and forced it to agree to a power sharing agreement. In our next story, imprisoned Egyptian photographer and filmmaker, Shadi Habash, died on Saturday in the Torah prison in Egypt's capital city, Cairo. Habash, who was 24 years old, was in prison without trial for more than two years for directing a music video that mocked Egyptian President Abdul Fattahel C.C. Rami Assam, the exiled singer who performed a song in the music video, announced Habash's death over social media, adding that he would be buried in Cairo. Habash's lawyer Ahmadel Khwaja told reporters that the exact cause of the death was not known, but he was suffering from depression and various health problems while in prison. In a statement, Khwaja said that Habash's health had been deteriorating for several days and he was hospitalized on the day of his death. He was later sent back to prison on Saturday evening where he died at night. Activists and human rights groups accused the Egyptian authorities of gross and deliberate medical negligence, adding that Habash's death was completely avoidable if only the prison officials had provided him with proper medical care much earlier. Habash had earlier written a post in October 2019 over Facebook saying that he was dying slowly. Rights groups have also raised concerns about the extremely unsanitary and unsafe conditions of the overcrowded Egyptian prisons that hold more than 60,000 people. And finally, nearly 2,000 garment workers protested in Bangladesh demanding months of unpaid wages on May 3rd, Saturday. Workers at the MHC Apparals Limited in Ghazipur district staged a sit-in demanding the dispersal of arrears for the last three months. The workers claimed that they had not been paid their arrears since February this year and they're overtime due since last August. There are around 3,000 workers employed in the factory. Though the management of the factory denied it, some workers claimed that the authorities issued threats through local musclemen asking them not to protest. The management is also denied that overtime bills are pending since August and has only admitted to wage arrears since February. Eventually, the management is forced to concede workers' demands and said that all dues will be paid by May 13. Garment factories in Bangladesh, which is the second largest manufacturer of readymade garments in the world, were shut down due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, last week, around 2,600 factories of the total 7,600 were allowed to resume operations if they followed physical distancing measures and other preventive guidelines set by the government. The decision was taken in a meeting between the government and factory owners without the consultation of union representatives. That's all we have in this episode of the International Daily Roundup. To know more about these stories, visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for watching.